Story A Day

Our garage is completely gone, along with a whole bunch of construction debris that was in it!  Yipeee!!!  It is amazing what a couple guys can accomplish in one day with a bobcat, a 30 yard dumpster and a flatbed truck!  Tomorrow they start doing all the setup for concrete…exciting.  Who knew that I would come to a point in my life that I’d be EXCITED About CONCRETE!  Whoa.  On the indoor front, the guys finished doing a skim-coat of sheetrock mud on our bathroom to repair the water damage from our leaky roof.  Ahhhhh….progress….  I like it.

It’s a good thing I can stay home from work once in a while to meet with all the contractors that come to our house. Here is what’s on the agenda for today…

Contractor #1 to tear down the garage (see previous post)
Contractor #2 to go over bid & contract for siding replacement
Contractor #3 to repair fascia on the front of the house, replace roof truss and re-mud bathroom ceiling damaged by poor tarping during repair.
Contractor #4 to go over bid & contract for basement duct work
Contractor #5 to visit basement and make bid on drywall work

As I was typing those I actually had to click back to my calendar to remember all of them – geez…it’s good though, this means progress!!

It’s a bit scary how easy it was for the contractors to take down our  garage.  In less than one minute, no cutting of interior framing, and with only 3 nudges with a bobcat our garage was flat on the ground.  Check it out…

I decided to forgo my trip to this gym this afternoon in exchange for a walk around the lake, on what may be one of the last sunny, warm, fall days! I am loving this weather lately and wanted to soak up every bit I could today. The lake was busy with walkers, bikers, and runners. Good times in the neighborhood I think tomorrow might be much like today, and then I hear that Wed might remind us again of winter’s nearing arrival!

The contractors tell me this sad site will be gone early this week. We are tearing down our storm-damaged garage to make room for a new slab (our current one is severely cracked) that can support a structurally sound, storm-damage-free garage (and, no, we did not win our battle with the insurance company, so we will be paying for most of it). The new garage will not make an appearance on this blog until next summer – it won’t be built until next spring/summer Yes, that means we have to scrape the snow and ice off our cars all winter! I am not really looking forward to that, but it should save us a lot of money to build it with the help of family and friends, rather than hire contractors. Adventure, adventures…

Last night Tim and I attended a wedding of a couple friends.  It was at this place in Prior Lake called The Wilds.  I couldn’t believe the view.  Prior Lake is about 20 miles from Minneapolis, but from atop the hill at the Wilds we could see all the way to downtown and beyond!  And lots of beautiful trees changing color in between.  The wedding was on an outdoor patio – gusty for Oct 27 – but they lucked out with beautiful weather.  It was great time, and we got to catch up with friends that we haven’t see in a while too.  Congrats to Sean and Krista!

Did you know that the moon is closer to the earth tonight that usual?  Thus, it appears slightly larger and brighter.  I think that is pretty cool.  I walked in to the dark home office this evening to write my blog and there was a bright light on the floor from the moon shining in the window.  So, if you’re not already in bed and it’s not cloudy where you are, take a look at the full moon tonight

What a welcome back from my vacation – a trip to the dentist! I thought when I was a kid I learned that most people are done with cavities come adulthood. Nope. And the bummer is that I take very good care of my teeth and it still happens! I brush 2-3 times a day, I floss everyday, I don’t eat sugar before bed , I don’t drink much pop or other acidic beverages, I don’t smoke. Grrrrrrrrrr. I’m not happy about this. Oh well. There are much worse things I guess. But I liked it better when I thought I’d be done with cavities at my age!

So many good things to write about Tonight I went to a gathering to celebrate Anna’s birthday. We had a delicious meal, much of which was created from veggies grown on Chris Gamm’s farm! Yummmm. Then there was the delicious pie that Zanna made, and finally, a violin serenade not BY but FOR the birthday girl from a friend of her’s (I’m bad, I forgot her name). Anna was pleased because usually she is the one playing the violin. It was a wonderful evening. Happy Birthday Anna!

We disappeared for a few days for our 2nd anniversary trip. We went to this great place called the “Cottagewood Resort”, just about an hour from our house. It was a really nice place! I highly recommend it if you are looking for a get-away. We headed south rather than to the north shore this year in hopes of seeing the leaves at their peak, and we lucked out! Here are some photos from our trip…